A simple black notebook bearing the name of a Dutch shipyard has become the centre of a high-stakes inheritance dispute in Monaco, where the estate of late Russian billionaire Oleg Burlakov, worth an estimated €3 billion, is being fiercely contested. As first reported by Monaco-Matin, the drama revolves around a handwritten will that allegedly disinherits Burlakov’s wife and daughters in favour of his sister, brother-in-law, and a young mistress.
Burlakov, a former Soviet colonel who built his fortune in cement and made headlines for commissioning the revolutionary 106-metre sailing yacht Black Pearl, died from Covid-19 in June 2021 while residing in Monaco. Since then, the question of who inherits his empire has sparked a legal saga of international proportions, pitting his long-time wife and daughters against his sister, brother-in-law, and even a mistress.
At the heart of the controversy is a handwritten will reportedly penned by Burlakov two years before his death—on an A5 page of a notebook branded OceAnco, the Dutch shipbuilder behind the Black Pearl. According to this document, Burlakov left nearly his entire fortune to his sister Vera and her husband Nikolai Kazarov, including the yacht, Monaco real estate, company shares, and other assets. A final flourish grants his Latvian mistress 10 million Canadian dollars. His wife and daughters, however, are left with nothing.
Now, a handwriting expert appointed by the Monegasque court has confirmed the will’s authenticity, stating unequivocally that “Mr Oleg Burlakov is the author of the will in question.”
That conclusion has been met with triumph by the legal team representing Vera and Nikolai. “This confirms what we’ve known all along,” said lawyers Frédéric de Baets and Richard Mullot, while also criticising Monaco’s judicial process for taking four years to reach this stage.
However, the legal battle is far from over. Burlakov’s widow, Lyudmila, who initiated divorce proceedings just before Christmas in 2018 (and, not incidentally, moved hundreds of millions into a Bahamian trust), contests both the authenticity and legal standing of the will. Her legal team has slammed the expert’s report as “flawed” and are calling for a counter-expertise to be conducted by a Russian-speaking specialist with what they describe as “serious scientific methods.”
Adding to the drama, Lyudmila never finalised her divorce. Burlakov died 15 days before the judgment was due, meaning she remains legally his wife, with potential claims to the estate.
Behind the scenes, accusations are flying. De Baets and Mullot allege that the Burlakova side is using “legal tactics to stall the proceedings” and warn that “even intelligence agencies” may be involved in what they describe as “a €3 billion operation of information extraction and illegal surveillance.”
The Monegasque courts have already declared themselves competent to rule on the inheritance, despite other wills lodged abroad, one dating back to 2004 in Canada.
As it stands, a modest notebook locked in a Monte Carlo safe may decide the fate of a fortune. But with high-powered legal teams, allegations of espionage, and rival claims of betrayal, this inheritance dispute is shaping up to be one of the most explosive Monaco has ever seen.
Image RR: Oleg Burlakov’s will
